Lukaku powers Chelsea past Sounders

19 July 2012 08:16

European champions Chelsea opened their tour of the United States on Wednesday with a 4-2 win over the Seattle Sounders as striker Romelu Lukaku led the way with two first half goals.

The Belgian slotted home in the third and 45th minutes, while newcomers Marko Marin and Eden Hazard also scored for the Blues.

"I feel the pressure, but you play for Chelsea, there's pressure and we won, so that's the most important thing," Lukaku said. "The goals were good for me, but the most important thing is the team. I enjoyed it a lot."

It was the first match for Chelsea since they beat Bayern Munich two months ago to win their first Champions League and add to their FA Cup win.

Lukaku bulled his way past Seattle defender Jeff Parke to score his first goal then added another just before the half.

Hazard, who joined the club from Lille, scored in the 11th minute off a deflection and Marin scored in the 40th minute when his shot hit Parke and past Sounder goalkeeper Bryan Meredith.

"We were looking to (have) a good workout, good possession, some good combination play and slowly integrate new players and also see some of our younger talents that we have in the club that will hopefully be the future of the club," said Chelsea manager Roberto Di Matteo.

Fredy Montero scored twice in the first half for the Sounders but they were unable to muster enough attack in the second half in front of a crowd of 53,309 at Century Field.

However, they managed to keep the score closer than their match last year with British visitors Manchester United when they were routed 7-0.

Chelsea were without five of their biggest names for the first stop on their four-game pre-season American tour.

The trip also features the first football match at the new Yankee Stadium, against Paris Saint-Germain on Sunday, before the west London side face the Major League Soccer all-stars in Philadelphia and Italian giants AC Milan in Miami.